The Patriotic Party (, VP) is a political party in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. The Patriotic Party describes itself as a "

vanguard party Vanguardism, a core concept of Leninism, is the idea that a revolutionary vanguard party, composed of the most conscious and disciplined workers, must lead the proletariat in overthrowing capitalism and establishing socialism, ultimately progres ...

" and its chairman,

Doğu Perinçek Doğu Perinçek (; born 17 June 1942) is a Turkish politician, doctor of law and former communist revolutionary who has been chairman of the left-wing nationalist Patriotic Party since 2015. He was also a member of the Talat Pasha Committee, an ...

, described the party in 2015 as a bringing together of

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

revolutionaries A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

, Turkish nationalists and Kemalists. The party is strongly pro-China and pro-Russia as well as anti-American. The party also supports President Erdoğan and what it considers to be his anti-imperialist policies.

History

The political tradition of the Patriotic Party is based on the Luminosity (''Aydınlık'') movement. The party was founded in 1992 as

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

. In 2015, after a long-time political repositioning period, the Workers' Party changed its name to "Patriotic Party" during the extraordinary congress. Like the Workers' Party, the Patriotic Party is led by Doğu Perinçek. The party's founding members include former

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

generals who had been pursued during the

Ergenekon trials The Ergenekon trials or the Ergenekon conspiracy, were a series of high-profile trials which took place in 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Erge ...

and the Sledgehammer case, though both cases have been thrown out since then.

Political positions

The party is closely aligned with the nationalist ideology named '' ulusalcılık'' and has been described as

left-wing nationalist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing poli ...

. It officially supports

Kemalism Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. New York, ...

. Article 1 of the Basic Principles section of the party charter states that "The Patriotic Party is the vanguard party fighting for the common national power of the Turkish working class, peasants, artisans and craftsmen, public employees, intellectual laborers, national industrialists and merchants. The Patriotic Party embraces the nationalist, pro-people and socialist accumulation of the Turkish Revolution under a single discipline on the basis of the Party's charter and program." The party also supports the ruling

People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to: * People's Alliance ( ''Volksunie''), Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit * People's Alliance (Bulgaria), a Bulgarian party from 1921 to 1923 * People's Alliance ( ...

, which is

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

in nature, though it is not a member. Perinçek has stated that " publicans, nationalists, populists, socialists and revolutionaries all unite in one party, the Patriotic Party". According to its charter, the party advocates for a "national democratic revolution", calls for "ideological independence" and organizes itself on the basis of

democratic centralism Democratic centralism is the organisational principle of most communist parties, in which decisions are made by a process of vigorous and open debate amongst party membership, and are subsequently binding upon all members of the party. The co ...

Foreign policy

The party is strongly pro-Russia and pro-China and

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...

because of its Eurasianist ideology. It is also strongly anti-

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and advocates for Turkey's departure from it. It is also

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...

and against Turkey's EU candidacy. The Patriotic Party supports strong relations with countries such as

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. It also has strong party-to-party relations with parties such as the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

. The party strongly opposes the current Turkish intervention in Syria and actively promotes better ties with the Assad government. In 2022, the party and its leader,

, openly supported

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. saying that "it is the weapon that Russia is currently using that brings peace and tranquility".

Media

The Patriotic Party is affiliated with a number of news publications including '' Aydınlık'', Ulusal Kanal and ''Bilim ve Ütopya''.

Electoral performance

Parliamentary elections

Presidential elections

Local elections

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2015 establishments in Turkey Anti-American sentiment in Turkey Eurasianism Eurosceptic parties in Turkey Kemalist political parties Left-wing nationalist parties Opposition to NATO Political parties established in 2015 Political parties in Turkey Russophilic parties